Sunday, September 13, 2015

Sadly, our time in Switzerland was over. It was strange being in Switzerland without Grossmeuti, but the strangest moment was when we loaded our suitcases into the rental car and drove away from NeuOertli and there was no one standing on the balcony waving goodbye.

Every time I've ever been to Switzerland, Grossmeuti has stood on the balcony of her house and waved a hanky. And then, as the train rolled out of town, we would look back at her mountain, and there she would be waving until the train rolled out of sight.

This time, Anny was in Austria and there was no one at the chalet to wave good bye to. That was hard.

We made our way to Zurich. It was the hottest day of our stay - by the time we reached our hotel, the temperature was registering 38 on the car thermostat. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we were praying our hotel would have air conditioning this time!

And thankfully it did. We checked in and made our way to the Zurich airport to drop off the rental car and try to check in (we hadn't been able to do that online from Lenk). We still weren't able to check in, but we were able to visit some of the crazy stores in the mall.

I wonder what kind of toy you get in a kinder surprise that big.

My nutella freak was in heaven :)

As was my father!

The next day we flew out to Heathrow. Our rental car was a bit late, but eventually we found our driver and started the long, long ride to Eastbourne. I think Heathrow to Eastbourne is only about 80 miles, but it took us over three hours.

Once we got into the country side, the scenery was beautiful.

I don't think I knew what this place was when I took this picture; I just liked the look of the restaurant. But my mum told me later that when her mum used to take her and her siblings to the beach, they always stopped here for ice cream.

This was another place on Terminus Road. I'm sure we used to call my brother Rob, Bobster.

And this was a highlight, even though we never went inside!

Once we were safely checked in to our hotel we were on the hunt for dinner. Dad liked the looks of this Belgian pub - it even had Tin Tin art on the walls!

Andrew ordered the biggest beer I've ever seen. It had kind of a funky taste which the guys couldn't figure out. It tasted like pure yeast to me. The house beer.

After dinner we went for a stroll along the beach. After 27 years, I finally got to see the Eastbourne Pier again.

We saw an actual telephone booth! I made the kids get a picture beside it, and I'm glad I did because the next day we found out that it's actually an ice cream stand. The guy has a soft ice cream dispenser and all kinds of other stuff in there and stands on the street selling cones!

Sunset over Eastbourne, as viewed from the pier. Lovely.

This is from a lightpost. I think he's a bit discoloured from the big fire they had on the pier last summer.

We walked past the fire damaged part of the pier (which is currently under construction), and down towards the shops and cafes.

Even though it was early in the evening, pretty much everything was closed. But it was a lovely walk.

Looking over towards Beachy Head from the Pier.

And back towards the beach. They have truly magnificent hotels along the beach front, don't they?

At the end of the pier you could rent fishing tackle and try your hand at fishing.

But they didn't want the riff raff getting in there and crowding out the fishers.

We took the opportunity to take a few pictures of us with the skyline in behind us.

And then dad wanted to walk along the beach to find everywhere he'd worked.

Dad first came to England almost fifty years ago to learn English. He worked in several hotels here, and Eastbourne's where he met my mom.

The Cavendish is also where my cousin Vicki and her family were staying and where they were hosting their silver wedding anniversary party.It was bombed in the second world war, and when they rebuilt, well...you can tell which part needed rebuilding.

But it was a gorgeous hotel nonetheless. Dad worked her as a waiter.

And this is the lovely church that was across the road from our hotel.

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David

Our serious, thoughtful firstborn. David is all boy. He loves climbing trees, riding his bike, playing with lego and transformers and hurling himself off anything and everything. But he also loves snuggling. That makes him pretty much perfect in my books.

Elisabeth

more commonly referred to as Tink, Elisabeth is the baby of the family. She's also the boss. She's sassy. She's a clown. She's also a tenderhearted little mother hen and the first person to give you kisses when you need them.